With only a few months left before it starts processing cattle through its new abattoir, the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) has announced that it's buying more land near Darwin.

AACo will pay $8 million for the Pell Airstrip and Tortilla properties, which total 5,473 hectares, with settlement scheduled for July 2014.

AACo has operated on the properties for a number of years on an agistment basis.

In a statement to the stock exchange, AACo's managing director Jason Strong, says "the acquisition of these freehold properties, just 90 kilometres south of Darwin and 50 kilometres south of the Northern Beef Processing facility [abattoir], represents a further important strategic development for AACo, as it will act as a key hub for the company's activities in northern Australia."

The properties, situated on the Stuart Highway, will have year-round access and allow the company to efficiently sort and hold cattle whether they are destined for backgrounding on the recently acquired Labelle and Welltree stations, processing through AACo's abattoir, or the live export trade.